RUINED!

"Take a sad song and make it better", sang the Beatles. Ford decided to switch the lyrics to: "Take a pretty car and make it much worse".


I shan't be harsh. Ford's Verve sedan - the 4-door is a necessary body configuration to compete in China - has just debuted and it proves how adding a trunk can ruin a terrific body. Nevertheless, the Verve sedan is still a terrific looking automobile, just very awkwardly proportioned from some angles.

Chevy's latest Malibu is a much better car in every way when compared with its predecessor. Yet that car, the Malibu sedan, was taken to a new level of ugliness when stretched and fitted with a hatch. As if the front end hadn't been bad enough already, Chevrolet designers outdid themselves at the rear.


The story is much the same, but switched around, at Nissan. The Versa hatchback appears athletically honed and toned in the way a 6-foot tall, 120 pound 14 year-old boy deals with a basketball bouncing off his size 14 shoes. Then again, Nissan's late-coming Versa sedan appears athletic.... only in how it compares with a first time quarterback attempting to escape Michael Strahan.


Volkswagen's Golf/Rabbit/GTI doesn't stun you with its beauty or uniqueness. It does the job, however, and manages to offend few while cutting a clean line. Then again, the same car can be morphed into the Golf Plus Dune. Gross.


The Peugeot 206 was a very successful and cheeky French hatchback. The same French automaker managed to convert it into a dreadfully awful and dowdy 'saloon'.



Toyota imported the Echo sedan to North America and left every passerby with a bad taste in their mouth. How did such offensive bodywork escape the same design HQ as its companion, the Echo hatch?

PEUGEOT, MERCEDES, BMW RUMOURS?

Rumour: a statement or report current without known authority for its truth.

There is some suggestion that Mercedes and BMW could share architecture for the next Mini and Mercedes-Benz B-class. Add PSA Peugeot/Citroen to the mix with the next C4. Or, better yet, chuck the two German automakers in with the French for a tiny city car, probably cheaper than anything available right now in North America. One BMW board member did admit that none of this could happen between rivals like BMW and Mercedes "...at the expense of either brand's core values." BMW and Mercedes can already be found labouring together with General Motors to further their hybrid and diesel technology.

The latest rumour involving Peugeot, BMW, and M-B concerns an engine alliance. The 4-cylinder you know from the new Mini (itself a BMW-owned brand) is the same one you would see in Peugeot's 207. That 4-cylinder is much smoother and more refined than the engine the previous Mini four that BMW shared with Chrysler.

One French high-value automaker and two rival luxury car companies from Germany. Strange mates.

AUDI WINS 24 HOURS OF LE MANS

Despite qualifying 1-2-3, Peugeot was unable to claim victory in Le Mans, France this weekend. Audi took the title for the fifth straight time and the eighth time since year 2000. Peugeot managed to snab the next two spots on the podium, but Audi also drove to 4th and 6th positions.

In the GTI class, Aston Martin's DB9 racer took the crown; the more experienced Corvette team driving to 2nd and 3rd. A Ferrari F430 drove to 1st place in the GT2 class.

INTERNATIONAL ENGINE OF THE YEAR WINNERS

Judges for these much-coveted awards include many names you'll be familiar with. Csaba Csere, Frank Markus, Richard Russell, Jim Kenzie, Dennis Siminaitis, Peter Lyon, and Paul Horrell are just some of the American, Canadian, and British overseers. Schalk Pienaar and Yasuhiko Kawamura are two of the many international judges with whom your familiarity is limited, most likely.

Winning one of the International Engine of the Year awards has become a real status symbol; BMW and Nissan/Infiniti having used their winnings to aid their image. BMW can certainly continue to exalt themselves in IEotY glory. The winners are below.

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Above 4.0 litre: BMW's 5.0L V10, as seen in the M5 and M6

3.0 - 4.0 litre: BMW's 4.0L V8, as seen in the M3

2.5 - 3.0 litre: BMW's 3.0L twin-turbo inline-six, as seen in the 1-series, 3-series, and X6

2.0 - 2.5 litre: Subaru's 2.5L turbo flat-four, as seen in the Forester, Impreza, and Legacy/Outback family

1.8 - 2.0 litre: Volkswagen's 2.0L turbo, as seen across the VW Group board

1.4 - 1.8 litre: BMW/Peugeot 1.6L turbo, as used in many'a hot hatch

1.0 - 1.4 litre: Volkswagen's 1.4L twincharger

Sub-1.0 litre: Toyota's 1.0L, which weighs just 67kg

Performance Engine of the Year: Porsche's 3.6L twin-turbo, powering the 911 Turbo and GT2

Green Engine of the Year: Toyota's 1.5L hybrid synergy drive from the Prius

New Engine of the Year: BMW's 2.0L twin-turbo diesel from the 1-series

International Engine of the Year: BMW's 3.0L twin-turbo inline-six, also winner of the 2.5-3.0 litre category

PEUGEOT'S LE MANS DRIVERS

It ought to be a matter of national pride for Peugeot, not to mention the disturbing nature of absolute German dominance at France's most famous race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans.  Audi  won this classic race in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007.  Although Bentley - a Volkswagen subsidiary just like Audi - took the title in 2003, it was with Audi's help.  

1996, '97, and '98 were Porsche's years whilst 1999 was BMW's.  The most recent French company to win was indeed Peugeot, but that was 1993.  

Thus, Peugeot is ready to battle again.  This year, they'll be majoring on the drivers as seriously as the cars.  Ask any casual Le Mans follower about previous winners and you will inevitably be told about car companies; not drivers.  If Peugeot manages to wrest the Heures du Mans crown from Audi this year, the drivers will be remembered.  

Jacques Villeneuve, Christian Klien, Alex Wurz, Pedro Lamy, Franck Montagny, Marc Gene, and Ricardo Zonta all sound good.  World Rally man Stephane Sarrazin and ex-Formula 3000 racer Nicolas Minassian should help the cause.  For those keeping track, that's three Frenchmen, one French-Canadian, and not a single German.  

Peugeot's current showrooms are not full of models that could be easily linked to a win at Le Mans.  Like Audi (which uses lines like, "Audi is a trailblazer when it comes to diesel power. Since 1989, over 4.5 millions cars have rolled off the production line with the highly efficient TDI technology under the bonnet. By equipping the R10 TDI sports prototype with this technology, we have just won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a diesel-powered car for the second time") Peugeot is opting for diesel power in their Le Mans racer and it is on this point that Peugeot can claim 'trickle-down' effect and exercise marketing heft. Peugeot and its sister company Citroen are indelinly linked to diesel engines, and rightfully so.